Strigolactone (GR24) Application Positively Regulates Photosynthetic Attributes, Stress-Related Metabolites and Antioxidant Enzymatic Activities of Ornamental Sunflower ( Helianthus annuus cv. Vincent’s Choice) under Salinity Stress

Muhammad Ahsan (), Hira Zulfiqar, Muhammad Ansar Farooq, Sajjad Ali, Aasma Tufail, Shamsa Kanwal, Muhammad Rashid Shaheen, Mateen Sajid, Hera Gul, Aftab Jamal, Muhammad Farhan Saeed, Roberto Mancinelli and Emanuele Radicetti ()
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Muhammad Ahsan: Department of Horticultural Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan
Hira Zulfiqar: Department of Botany, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
Muhammad Ansar Farooq: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Sajjad Ali: Department of Entomology, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan
Aasma Tufail: Department of Botany, Division of Science and Technology, University of Education, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Shamsa Kanwal: Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute, AARI, Faisalabad 38850, Pakistan
Muhammad Rashid Shaheen: Department of Horticultural Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan
Mateen Sajid: Department of Horticulture, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan 32200, Pakistan
Hera Gul: Department of Horticultural Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan
Aftab Jamal: Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Crop Production Sciences, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar 25130, Pakistan
Muhammad Farhan Saeed: Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus, Vehari 61100, Pakistan
Roberto Mancinelli: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (DAFNE), University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Emanuele Radicetti: Department of Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Sciences (DOCPAS), University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Strigolactones, a new group of phytohormones, are reported to improve plant tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses. A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of synthetic strigolactone (GR24 at 0.001, 0.01 and 0.1 mg L −1 ) application on ornamental sunflowers ( Helianthus annuus cv. Vincent’s Choice) grown under salt stress (150 mM NaCl). Salt stress was applied after 14 days, and SL was applied 25 days seed sowing. The results showed that amongst various GR24 concentrations, 0.01 mg L −1 proved to be superior, as it enhanced the photosynthetic rate (9.29%), transpiration rate (0.76%), stomatal conductance (77.5%), total soluble protein (0.55%) and K + (14.63% in roots; 14.87% in shoots) and Ca 2+ (12.63% in roots; 11.48% in shoots) contents under control conditions. Similarly, the leaf turgor potential (Ψ p ), osmotic potential (Ψ s ) and free proline, glycinebetaine (GB), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and peroxide (POD) contents increased by 58.17, 89.95, 159.04, 101.54, 74.42, 175.68 and 53.62%, respectively, under salt stress conditions. The leaf water potential (Ψ w ) decreased (−0.14%) and the malondialdehyde (MDA) content increased (16.65%) when treated with the 0.001 mg L −1 GR24 level. Meanwhile, hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) and Na + concentrations in roots and shoots increased by 62.53%, 74.66% and 38.55% under saline conditions with a GR24 level of 0 mg L −1 . Regarding the plant biomass, a GR24 level of 0.01 mg L −1 with salt stress greatly decreased the root (−47.27% and −50.45%) and shoot (−44.79% and −59.42%) fresh and dry weights, respectively, compared to control conditions. These results reveal that exogenously applied GR24 might be an effective way to mitigate the perilous impacts of salt stress in ornamental sunflower production. It is suggested that the use of molecular techniques to study different processes in which GR24 could play a vital part in various commercial floricultural crops is extremely imperative and can open novel horizons for future investigations in this exhilarating field of plant hormones.

Keywords: antioxidants; floriculture; phytohormone; strigolactone; salt stress; water relation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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